Lilian Weng, one of the cofounders of the AI firm Thinking Machines Lab, announced her departure this week to return to OpenAI, where she'll spearhead a team dedicated to enhancing internal research efforts. This strategic move aligns with OpenAI's goal of advancing AI systems capable of self-improvement, a company representative informed Business Insider.
In her announcement on Monday, Weng expressed her concerns about the demands of startup life, stating, "I don’t feel I’m able to continue at the pace a startup requires." She described the decision as challenging, noting her struggle with the guilt of letting down her colleagues at Thinking Machines, colloquially known as "Thinky," while prioritizing her health.
Weng emphasized her ongoing passion for AI and her preference for a role that offers more structure and predictability, rather than the intense responsibilities of a cofounder. Her new position at OpenAI will draw on her previous experience with the organization, where she contributed to various projects from 2018 until late 2024, as well as her backgrounds at Facebook, Dropbox, and Affirm. During her initial tenure at OpenAI, she played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Applied AI Research team and led initiatives focusing on safety systems.
Though neither Weng nor Thinking Machines Lab provided immediate comments regarding her exit, her notable contributions to the advancement of OpenAI's GPT-4 model were highlighted. She was involved in key areas such as pretraining data, model safety assessments, and deployment strategies.
Upon rejoining OpenAI, Weng will focus on the ambitious initiative of "recursive self-improvement," where AI models are designed to enhance their future iterations. The spokesperson for OpenAI lauded Weng's unique blend of research acumen, technical expertise, and talent for team development.
Weng’s departure marks a significant change for Thinking Machines Lab, which has experienced a wave of exits from its founding members since its inception. As of now, only two of the six original cofounders remain: Mira Murati, the current CEO, and chief scientist John Schulman. In earlier developments, Barret Zoph and Luke Metz transitioned to OpenAI, while Andrew Tulloch moved to Meta. Additionally, Zoph left OpenAI in June, as reported by The Verge.
Murati took to social media to express her appreciation for Weng’s contributions, stating, “We’ll miss you; it’s been wonderful building Thinky together. I’m glad that you’re putting your health first. Thank you for everything.”
